The Orphaner's Chain
by Lauren Chamberlain
Summary: Lilith Yuenuu is a young violet-blooded seadweller. She has come to the age where she can be chosen to be an Orphaner in training. How will she learn to deal with highblood policies and the Head Orphaner himself when she has no hate or condescension to the lowbloods and lusii she is supposed to kill and control?
1. Chapter 1

A young, violet blooded seadweller, aged six sweeps, carries a basket of sea-fruits into her modest, above water hive. She lives alone, but doesn't mind very much, as her friends visit often. She sets the basket of fruits on the table, and goes into her room to change into a dry outfit. Typical of Troll fashion, she has one look with many different sets. She goes over to her closet and pull out a black and violet swimsuit top that covers her chest like a tube top and ties around her neck, and a pair of jean shorts that fall just a little farther than halfway down her thighs. She dries off and changes quickly before going into her kitchen to have some of her fruit for breakfast. When she finishes, she looks around her kitchen and makes a mental note that she will need to go fishing later. She starts some tea and turns on some music, letting the sweet tunes fill the small hive.

She hears a knock at her door and turns her music off. "Coming!" She expects one of her friends to greet her when she opens the door, but instead there is a large drone and a man she recognizes standing there- Orphaner Dualscar. She gulps and looks nervously between the two of them. "Um, may I help you?"

Dualscar's rough, deep voice booms as he speaks. "By order of Her Imperial Condescension, you have been drafted to serve as an orphaner. You may have fifteen minutes to gather your things. And if you resist, the Drone can just drag you."

Her mind races in shock, but she gives a quick nod before running inside to get her things ready, the Orphaner and Drone letting themselves in to wait. Lilith starts panicking. She should be happy. It is thought to be an honor to become an orphaner, especially if the Head Orphaner comes to retrieve you himself. She quickly packs her bag with clothes and her few keepsakes- pictures of her lusus and her ancestor, along with a few other trinkets- before grabbing her weapon of choice and slinging her back over her shoulder. She grabs a pad of paper and writes a note on it, then gets some tape and sticks it to her door. She had written a simple note to her friends.

_My dear friends-_

_Please, do not look for me. You will only bring yourselves trouble. I have been recruited as an orphaner, and there is no better way to honor my family than to serve the People of Alternia. I'll be okay, I promise. I love you all. I know I may never seen any of you again, but please, don't forget me. And for gog's sake, stay away from the oceans!_

_~Lilith Yuenuu_

Lilith turns to the Orphaner and the Drone, who had read the note. Dualscar speaks first. "Protecting your friends by telling them to stay away from the oceans... Obviously not seadwellers, then. Might I ask who you associate with?"

She blushes, uncomfortable with the situation. "My apologies, sir, but it is really none of your business who I have spent my time with. I will no longer be in contact, so it does not matter." She turns and flips her shoulder length, black hair over her shoulder, walking out the door. "It is none of your concern if I'm friends with those lower than indigo. Not all lowbloods are filthy beasts, you know." She smirks and walks ahead of them, and Dualscar scoffs.

"Watch your tongue, girl. Or you may get more than you bargain for." He and the Drone jump into the sea, and Lilith follows closely. She's glad that her bag is water-proofed as they swim deep beneath the waters, crossing from the Violet zone- along the coasts of Alternia- to the Tyrian zone- the central ocean, where anyone lower than a violet blood is killed by Gl'bgolyb's song almost instantly. The tall man takes her one direction, while the Drone goes off to do his own work elsewhere. Dualscar takes her to a large branch of Her Imperial Condescension's palace that is above water and leads her inside to a large barracks room. "You will sleep here. Dinner is at six o'clock sharp each night, with breakfast at six in the morning and lunch at noon. Training is directly after breakfast. Do not be late." And with that, he departs to leave her to the mercy of the other, strange people occupying her sleeping quarters.


	2. Chapter 2

Lilith cautiously walks in, paying wary attention to the people around her. She sets on what appears to be an unoccupied bed and rummages around in her back for something. She pulls out a small, framed picture of herself and her moirail, Sollux Captor. She knows she shouldn't have brought it, as it is deemed unacceptable for a highblood to have someone so low fill a quadrant, but she loves Sollux with all her heart. Someone walks over, and she quickly stashes the photo away. The man is dressed in a white t-shirt with the Aquarius sign of the chest and jeans, and his hair is slicked back. He has a scar on his forehead and holds a cigarette in his mouth, as well as having an odd mispronunciation. "Oh, friends vwith a pitiful lovwblood? How pathetic." He smirks. "Novw vwhy don't you move aside, Doll, you're in my bed.

She growls lowly. "Make me." He frowns and quickly moves forward to punch her, but she quickly dodges out of the way and pulls her weapon out of her strife deck, knock as the Boann's Rapier. At first, it appears to be a long knife, or dirk, but with a simple flick of her wrist it flips open like a switch-blade to form a rapier. "Bring it, Greaser! Or are you too scared of being beaten by a girl?" She smirks as he gets visibly angrier, and swings a few move punches. She blocks them all easily before kicking him in the stomach and sending him to the ground. She puts her foot on his chest, leaving a nice boot-print, and holds the tip to his throat. "I'll let you go this time. I suggest you find a new bed. And if I hear you talking badly about my friends again, you'll have more than a place to sleep to worry about." She pulls her sword away from him and steps off, flipping the blade closed again before putting it back in her strife deck and hopping onto the bed.

Cronus gets up and growls at her. "The Head Orphaner vwill hear about this!"

She scoffs. "I was defending myself. You can prove nothing else. Everyone here saw it." Everyone had gone silent and was staring. They understood now not to mess with the new girl or they would be burned. Some make quiet comments or give slight nods to affirm what she has said, and Cronus grabs his bag from under the bed before walking out.

Lilith relaxes for a while, and everyone goes back to what they are doing. Eventually they get called to training, and she follows the other people out. She stands in line once they arrive at the training grounds, and Dualscar stands before them. "Today wwe wwill be testing your skills. Wwe wwill move down the line. You are ordered to showw us your best ability at fighting." He goes through the line one by one, until he reaches Dualscar. She wants to ask an honest question.

"Sir, are we only allowed to use the weapon in our strife deck, or anything we can or normally use to fight?" She smiles innocently up at him, eagerly awaiting his response.

He thinks for a second. "Anything you can use to fight."

Lilith smirks. "Thank you, sir. You will not be disappointed." She walks out onto the course, and flips out her Boann's Rapier. Her eyes and hands glow with purple and white electricity, and sparks crackle in the air. She begins levitating, and flies down the course at break-neck speeds, using her version of psionics to electrocute the targets or using her weapon to cut off their heads. She lands softly on her feet at the end of the course and puts her weapon away before turning to smirk at Dualscar and the crowd. She catches Dualscar with his jaw hanging open, but he quickly corrects himself.

"Explain now, Yuenuu."

She smirks as she begins her explanation. "Though it is hard to believe, I am a powerful Psionic. It's rare in the higher castes, but I was born with it, then well taught by another psionic, one who's ancestor happens to be the Helmsman. I can control my psionics and fight with them easily, though if I can, I usually use my Boann's Rapier."

He studies her for a minute. "Everyone is dismissed for the day. Yuenuu, come with me." Everyone disbands and she follows Dualscar, and he takes her to the Condesce's battleship, anchored nearby. He leads her on board, and takes her to the main control room, where the Helmsman is grafted to the ship. "Go on, Yuenuu. Meet the Helmsman."

Lilith cautiously comes forward, and the Helmsman looks up to meet her eyes. "You... You're Sollux's ancestor, aren't you?"

He spits his words, and is just as lispy as Sollux. "Who the fuck wantth to know? Why do you care who I am?"

She speaks quietly. "Sollux is a dear friend of mine. And he taught me how to use my psionics..." He looks up quickly, straining against the machine that uses him as a living battery.

"I don't believe you! You're probably working with thomeone, wanting to know where he ith tho you can do the thame to him that you did to me!" Lilith sighs softly, and reaches a tentative hand up to cup the Helmsman's cheek. Her eyes and hands glow, and he can feel her psionic energy. His eyes widen. "Oh... Oh my gog... You really _are_ a thionic..."

"Yes, I am. And I have been recruited to be an Orphaner. I'm not sure why Dualscar brought me here, but it was an honor to meet you, sir."

Dualscar clears his throat. "Come now, Yuenuu. You met him. I brought you here to tell you that if you defy or betray the Orphaners in any way, you will end up just like him. Understand?"

She pulls her hand away. "Y-yes, sir." Dualscar turns and walks out, and she quickly whispers in the Helmsman's ear. "I will get you out of here, I promise. For Sollux, and all the other psionics that need your leadership." He nods and she places a slight kiss on his lips before absconding out of the ship, following Dualscar closely back to her new home.


	3. Chapter 3

Lilith spends the next few weeks in rigorous training, making some friends, and some enemies. She's careful not to get in any unnecessary fights, only being violent enough to defend herself. She meets the Bay Orphaners- the Orphaners who mind the seacoasts and work in the political part of the Orphaners organization. She finds most of them are fairly nice, though they can be brutal. She does her best to make friends with the Bay Orphaners and other apprentices, but some of them, like Cronus, she can't help but hate for their condescending ways. She avoids those people as much as possible. Exactly a month after her training began, one of the Bay Orphaners, Eridan Ampora, walks out in front of the group. He bears a striking resemblance to Cronus and Head Orphaner Dualscar. "Listen up. Today, wwe wwill be going on your first hunt." Everyone cheers, and Lilith smirks. She was always good at keeping her emotions in. "Wwe wwill be leavving in ten minutes. Get your things and meet in front of the barracks." Eridan stalks off to get his Ahab's Crosshairs, and the other recruits go to gather their own weapons before meeting him. He informs them they will be hunting lusii, which was expected, as Gl'bgolyb had to be fed and satiated somehow. The recruits leave, accompanied by Eridan and another Bay Orphaner named Enelin. Enelin was one of the most brutal Bay Orphaners, and Lilith hated her with a passion. Lilith uses her psionics to propel her through the water as they head out, and they Enelin points out a large, frog-like lusus. When the other apprentices start going after the lusus, she recognizes it. It wasn't just a lusus, it was her lusus! "FROGMOM!" Lilith quickly swims forward and stands in front of her lusus, guarding her. "You aren't going to touch Frogmom!" Enelin responds. "Get out of the way, girl! We have work to do! I don't care whose lusus this is, it's getting fed to Gl'bgolyb!" The Bay Orphaner swims forth with her weapon, a large spear. Lilith responds with her Boann's Rapier, countering the other girl's attack. The spar and parry, landing attacks on each other and filling the water with their violet blood. Everyone else was just stuck, watching the odd battle. Frogmom was quickly swimming off, and Lilith smiles. Even Enelin notices, she leaves Lilith and goes after the large lusus. Lilith follows, and they continue their battle. Eventually, though, Enelin makes a mistake and Lilith's rapier goes through the other girls chest. Eridan quickly comes up behind the now frightened Lilith as she pulls her sword out of Enelin's chest. Her eyes were wide and fearful as she looked at the dead girl in front of her. 'Did I really just... Kill her?' Eridan drags the shocked girl away, and tells the other apprentices to go find another lusus to kill, and to take it Gl'bgolyb. As Eridan is taking Lilith back to the base, he sets her down on a coral reef and takes her chin, to lift it up and meet her eyes. "Hey, you're okay. Alright? You're not in trouble this time. Wwe're just going to go back, and put you to bed so you can rest for a little while. Then you, I, and the Head Orphaner will havve a talk. Understand?" She nods, and he sighs, taking her back and laying her in bed. She falls asleep quickly, and he goes to speak with Dualscar. "Come in." Dualscar responds when Eridan knocks on the door. He comes in. "Wwhat is it, Eridan? I'm vvery busy right noww." Eridan walks into the room and closes the door tight behind him. "Sir, Enelin is dead." "WWHAT?! Howw the fuck did that happen?!" He was furious, now he had to find someone to replace one of his best Bay Orphaners. Eridan sighs. "You knoww the psionic, Yuenuu?" Dualscar responds with a nod. "Wwell, apparently wwe wwere going after her lusus. She tried to protect it, and got into a fight wwith Enelin. Surprisingly, Lilith over powwered her eventually and wwon. Resulting in Enelin's death. It is vvery obvvious if she is wwilling to go this far to protect her lusus, she wwill no doubt be loyal to her friends. And potentially us." "Wwhat are you suggestin', Eridan? Get to your point already- I havve to find myself another Orphaner." "Wwhat I'm saying is, I think we should havve her fill Enelin's place. Lilith is strong, loyal, kind. Traits a Bay Orphaner needs." Eridan's reasoning was sound, and Dualscar nods. The Head Orphaner wasn't happy, but he wasn't as upset. "Fine. Do it. But it is your job to teach her." Eridan nods and Dualscar dismisses him, stalking off so they can both get back to work. Eridan goes and waits by the sleeping Lilith's bed, brushing a bit of hair out of her face and worrying for her well-being. She looked troubled, even in her sleep. "It's alright, Lil... I wwon't let them hurt you. Not evven in your dreams..." 


End file.
